NEW YORK, July 10 (Reuters) - The Dow slipped and the S&P
500 edged up less than a point on Wednesday, interrupting a
four-day rally, with investors trying to gauge when the Federal
Reserve may scale back on its economic stimulus.

Minutes from the Federal Reserve's June policy meeting
released on Wednesday afternoon showed many officials wanted
more reassurance that the labor market was improving before
reining in stimulus measures. Even so, consensus built within
the Fed that there probably was the need to begin pulling back
soon on its monthly bond buying.

The three major U.S. stock indexes recovered some ground
immediately on the headlines following the release of the
minutes. But those gains were short-lived as investors parsed
the details of the minutes. The Dow closed slightly lower to
break a four-day winning streak, while the broader S&P 500 eked
out a tiny gain.

Investors appeared to be more encouraged by a speech from
Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke that was delivered after the market
closed. Bernanke said highly accommodative monetary policy is
needed for the foreseeable future and that the U.S. unemployment
rate at 7.6 percent may be overstating the job market's health.

Bernanke's comments sent U.S. stock index futures higher.
The central bank has said it will continue buying bonds until
the labor market outlook improves substantially.

"That is calming market fears," said Tim Ghriskey, chief
investment officer of Solaris Group in Bedford Hills, New York,
referring to Bernanke's comments on the labor market.

"Speculation that the tapering could be from September is
now turning into, 'Maybe the Fed is going stay longer.'"

Bernanke spooked investors last month when he said the
economy's expansion was strong enough for the central bank to
start slowing the pace of its bond purchases later this year.

Some in the market have pegged September as when the Fed
could potentially start pulling back, but the minutes suggested
that was not a foregone conclusion.

The Dow Jones industrial average dipped 8.68 points,
or 0.06 percent, to end at 15,291.66. The Standard & Poor's 500
Index inched up just 0.30 of a point, or 0.02 percent, to
finish at 1,652.62. The Nasdaq Composite Index gained
16.50 points, or 0.47 percent, to close at 3,520.76.

The S&P 500 has risen more than 2 percent over the
past five sessions, pushing the benchmark index to just about 1
percent below its May 21 all-time closing high of 1,669.16.

With the Fed's quantitative easing program a significant
driver of this year's rally in the stock market, the question of
when and by how much the central bank could pull back has been a
major focal point for investors.

After an initial selloff following Bernanke's comments in
June, equities have taken a more positive tone in recent days on
optimism that the economy is indeed on firm enough ground to
justify slowing the $85 billion a month in bond purchases, known
as quantitative easing, or "QE."

That view was reinforced by last week's
stronger-than-expected jobs report for June.

"The fear was that the Fed would remove QE for non-economic
reasons, like they were worried about bubbles or that the cost
of QE was exceeding its benefit ... and that got the equity
market nervous," said Paul Zemsky, chief investment officer of
multi-asset strategies at ING U.S. Investment Management in New
York.

"Now when you start to see employment numbers come in like
the Fed's forecast had expected, then it's appropriate that they
taper."

In the retail sector, Family Dollar Stores Inc shot
up 7.1 percent to close at $68.50. The stock, which ended at a
seven-month high, was the S&P 500's top performer after the
discount chain posted quarterly earnings.

On the downside, Nabors Industries Ltd slid 6.3
percent to $14.99. The stock was the S&P 500's worst performer
after the owner of the world's largest land-drilling rig fleet
warned on Tuesday that its second-quarter operating profit would
fall short of market expectations.

After the closing bell, Yum Brands reported a drop
in June sales at restaurants in China, though the decline was
not as steep as the month before. Its shares edged up 0.5
percent at $72.70 in after-hours trading. During
the regular session, Yum Brands shares slipped 0.4 percent to
end at $72.36.

Analysts expect S&P 500 companies' earnings to grow 2.6
percent in the second quarter from a year ago, while revenue is
forecast to increase 1.5 percent from a year ago, according to
Thomson Reuters data.

Volume was roughly 5.7 billion shares on the New York Stock
Exchange, the Nasdaq and the NYSE MKT, compared with the
year-to-date average daily closing volume of 6.4 billion.

Advancers outpaced decliners on the NYSE by a ratio of about
8 to 7. On the Nasdaq, advancers also took the lead, with seven
stocks rising for every five that fell.